The start of the new year has been a tad subpar, Management was laid off and her car needs major repairs, though I suppose with such an inauspicious start things can really only look up.  Maybe we had a feeling that this was on the horizon when we started hacking at our budget but it definitely is helping that we’ve made some radical cuts to our lifestyle before all this happened but when I honestly reflect on it the layoff is likely a blessing in disguise.

Management hated her job.  The company she worked for was demeaning and her boss was less than pleasant and far from stable swinging wildly from highs where praise was cheap currency to dark lows where her fury was a 1000 year storm.   She was depressed from the grind and angry that she put the time and effort only to feel like she was running in quicksand; at some point the place was going to consume her body and soul.  The layoff is probably the best thing that has happened to our marriage since Gabriella and the time she is getting to spend with our daughter is just what the both of them need.  As far as I am concerned, the benefits are outweighing the loss of income.

Work, however, for me is the opposite.  I love what I am doing; I am learning and being pushed to think smarter, quicker, and differently every single day.  I love that.

As you can see from the picture, I never really gave up on The Beard Project, after a couple of trims around Thanksgiving I just let it go to seed.  Management wonders when I’ll grow tired of being so fluffy, my daughter sinks her fingers into it and exclaims “Oh, Bear!”, and I love how warm it has kept me this past cold snap.